Recipes – Nita's Fruit and Vegetable Carving Videoshttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog
Learn to Carve and Wow Your FriendsWed, 03 Jun 2020 23:40:43 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8Rosemary Skewered Mozzarella Appetizershttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/mozzarella-appetizers/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/mozzarella-appetizers/#respondWed, 07 Jun 2017 16:04:10 +0000https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=20424Eye-Catching and Delicious Here’s an eye-catching and mouthwatering appetizer that my friend, Linda, made for a casual afternoon birthday party for our FitTap teacher at her home. It’s so pretty, simple and delicious that I had to share it here with you. How To Make Linda marinated cubes of mozzarella is a mixture of olive […]

Here’s an eye-catching and mouthwatering appetizer that my friend, Linda, made for a casual afternoon birthday party for our FitTap teacher at her home. It’s so pretty, simple and delicious that I had to share it here with you.

Here’s a closer look at her rosemary skewered mozzarella appetizers that were delicious.

How To Make

Linda marinated cubes of mozzarella is a mixture of olive oil, parsley, and 6 seasonings. They were garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano and Italian seasonings. The cheese marinated in the refrigerator overnight. before the party, she topped each mozzarella cube with a sun dried tomato and skewered each with a twig of fresh rosemary. Then, she arranged them on a serving plate along with the marinade. I love how the rosemary sprigs do three things.

They make the whole appetizer plate super pleasing to the eye.

The rosemary serves as toothpicks making it easy to pick up the cheese, and

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/mozzarella-appetizers/feed/0Pancake Art – How to make fun art for breakfasthttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/pancake-art/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/pancake-art/#commentsSat, 11 Apr 2015 15:19:41 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=13941I’ve featured a lot of unique forms of food art on this blog and when I saw Nathan Shield’s pancake art on YouTube, I knew I had to showcase his special talent as well. While pancakes are simply a breakfast food to most people, Nathan manages to turn them into incredible works of art. Nathan began experimenting with pancake art […]

]]>I’ve featured a lot of unique forms of food art on this blog and when I saw Nathan Shield’s pancake art on YouTube, I knew I had to showcase his special talent as well. While pancakes are simply a breakfast food to most people, Nathan manages to turn them into incredible works of art.

Nathan began experimenting with pancake art about three years ago when he created a truck-shaped pancake to entertain his two children, who are now four and six years old. He learned that you could create different shades of brown by cooking sections for longer or shorter periods of time. He recently began to add cocoa powder to the pancake mix to create more variations in color.

You can see how Nathan uses the squirt bottles of pancake mix to create the different colors in this video of primate pancakes.

As a freelance illustrator, art has always been a passion for Nathan. He decided earlier this year to create a YouTube channel to share his pancake art

Nathan explained,

I love to see how things are created, and realized earlier this year that other people might like to see the process as well as the final product. The moment of truth comes when you flip it – it’s hard to predict exactly how it will turn out.”

In addition to creating portraits, Nathan also makes spirograph pancakes.

Out of all of his pancake creations, Nathan’s favorite is the numbat that he created for a series of marsupial shaped pancakes.

Nathan said,

I would encourage any parent to try this with their kids – it’s a fun and creative process to share. If you don’t like how yours turns out, just eat the evidence.”

If you want to see more of Nathan’s pancake art including pancake portraits of Michael Jackson, the Beatles and more check out his YouTube Channel.

How to Make Pancake Art

Want to give it a try yourself? Here is a quick tutorial for a simple design.

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/pancake-art/feed/1Green Cocktail with Fringed Cucumber Garnishhttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/green-cocktail-cucumber-garnish/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/green-cocktail-cucumber-garnish/#commentsFri, 08 Mar 2013 00:48:29 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=7395Here is a pretty a delicious recipe for a green cocktail with a fringed cucumber garnish. The video below will show you how to make the garnish. It’s delicious and pleasing to look at, too. In an earlier blog post I showed a healthy green smoothie for St. Patrick’s Day. Now it’s time for an […]

Here is a pretty a delicious recipe for a green cocktail with a fringed cucumber garnish. The video below will show you how to make the garnish. It’s delicious and pleasing to look at, too. In an earlier blog post I showed a healthy green smoothie for St. Patrick’s Day. Now it’s time for an adult drink.

If you like martini or gimlet drinks that aren’t too sweet and that aren’t too strong tasting, you’ll love this refreshing green cocktail made with fresh cucumber, basil, and lime juice. It’s a perfect blend of fresh, and tangy with a touch of sweetness. Make it with vodka for a martini or with gin for a gimlet. Either way, it’s great.

I served this green cocktail recently when we had some friends over to play cards. Everyone commented numerous time on how much they liked it. One friend told me it should be my signature drink. They even joked about how it is healthy. :~) It does actually have some healthy ingredients. I served each drink with a different style of cucumber garnish so that we could easily remember who’s glass was who’s.

Fringed Cucumber Garnish for Green Cocktail

This video will show you how to make a simple fringed cucumber garnish to decorate the side of your martini glass. Below that, you will find the recipe for this tasty green cocktail.

Green Cocktail Recipe

Fresh Cucumber Juice – Peel one or 2 cucumbers, any kind will do – ordinary cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, or English or hothouse cucumbers. Juice them in a juicer. If you don’t have a juicer, no problem. Just puree the cucumbers in a food processor or blender and them put in a fine strainer over a bowl. Let the juice drip into the bowl. Push through whatever juice you can and discard the pulp.

If you want light green juice, remove all the peel before you juice or puree them. If you want a darker more vibrant green cocktail, leave some of the dark green peel on.

Refrigerate the juice.

Squeeze the limes and refrigerate the juice.

Make the basil simple syrup. Put 1/2 cup each of water and sugar into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil just to melt the sugar. Take off the heat and add 10 or more basil leaves to the sugar water. Cover and let sit for an hour. Refrigerate. Lift the basil leaves out of the syrup with a fork. You now have basil simple syrup ready to use.

Now you are ready to make your green cocktail.

To make 2 green cocktails, combine the following ingredients in a martini shaker with crushed ice:

Shake, strain and serve. Taste. Modify as you like adding more syrup to make it sweeter, more lime to make it tangier, whatever you like. More cucumber juice will smooth the flavor of your green cocktail.

Add a fringed cucumber garnish, or a simple slice of cucumber to the side of the glass. And you have a really beautiful and tasty green cocktail.

With the proportions I gave above you will have enough fresh juices and basil syrup to make several more servings.

Alternative Flavors for your Green Cocktails

The first time I tasted a cucumber martini was at J&G Steakhouse which is at the W Hotel in Washington D.C. just across the street from the White House. My husband and I ate dinner there the night that I carved pumpkins at the White House. It had been a long cold day and it actually snowed. We were happy to be warm and dry and to enjoy a really nice dinner. Anyway, their version of the cucumber cocktail had mint and ginger instead of basil.

With the above recipe, you can substitute mint for the basil and make mint simple syrup.

If you like your can finely grate some fresh ginger and squeeze a few drops of the ginger juice into the shaker.

For a faster version, I suppose you can use an already prepared sweetened lime juice like Roses Lime Juice. And you can muddle fresh mint leaves or basil leaves instead of making the simple syrup.

For an alcohol free green mocktail, you can substitute sparkling water for the gin or vodka.

For a refreshing summer sipper, add a larger volume of sparkling water and serve in a tall glass.

Super simple garnish – float a very thin slice of cucumber with a basil or mint leaf on top.

If you want to avoid processed white sugar, your can substitute agave syrup for the simple syrup and sweeten your green cocktail to taste. Muddle the basil to add the basil (or mint) flavor.

Anyway that you make it, I hope that you enjoy this refreshing green cocktail with the fringed cucumber garnish as much a we do.

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/green-cocktail-cucumber-garnish/feed/3Green Smoothie for St. Patrick’s Dayhttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/green-smoothie-st-patricks-day/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/green-smoothie-st-patricks-day/#commentsSat, 02 Mar 2013 17:12:03 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=7370Here is how to make a healthy green smoothie with a four leaf clover garnish that makes a delicious and pretty St. Patrick’s Day drink. It’s super easy to make. The honeydew and fresh mint makes a sweet refreshing drink that is such a pretty green color. If you have children in your life, you […]

]]>Here is how to make a healthy green smoothie with a four leaf clover garnish that makes a delicious and pretty St. Patrick’s Day drink. It’s super easy to make.

The honeydew and fresh mint makes a sweet refreshing drink that is such a pretty green color. If you have children in your life, you can invite them to help make it. They’ll have fun cutting the four leaf clovers with a cookie cutter.

While making this video, I made a mistake that required us to reshoot part of the video. As a result, I ended up making two batches which made a very large pitcher full. With only husband and me at home to drink it, we had it for 3 or 4 meals, over a period of two days. I thought my husband would get tired of it. I was surprised when on the third day, he asked me if I had any more honeydew to make another batch. He wanted more. It was that good. I hope you like it, too.

How to Make a Green Smoothie St. Patrick’s Day Drink – Video

The key is to get a good honeydew. But even if your honeydew isn’t the sweetest, you can sweeten it up by adding pineapple juice.

When you make this drink at other times of the year, you can switch the four leaf clover for mint sprigs or honeydew cut out with a different shaped cookie cutter. Try a heart or a flower. If serving these green smoothies at a card game, you can make garnishes that are cut in the shape of a spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds. However you dress up this honeydew and mint green smoothy, it is great for any time of the year.

You can easily turn this green smoothie into an adult beverage by adding a little alcohol. Vodka works well with this combination of flavors. I didn’t try it but a touch of creme de menthe added to your green smoothie might be tasty, too.

Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients

1 HoneydewFresh mint leaves – about 30. Use more or less to taste
Pineapple juice – about 6 ounces.

Tools needed

Four leaf clover or shamrock shaped cookie cutter (or any other shape appropriate for your event of time of year).
Ordinary kitchen knife for chopping honeydew melon
Blender or food processor

How to Make Your Green Smoothie

1. Wash your melon.

2. Slice the end off the remove some rind. Then, cut a slice thick enough that you will be able to put your straw through. From that slice of honeydew melon, use your cookie cutter to cut a 4 leaf clover shape. Repeat on the other end and on sides to make 2-4 clover garnishes. Remember to make your garnishes first, because if you mess up, you can cut another slice and make another and use the reject slice in the smoothie. If you cut up your melon before making your garnishes, you won’t have any fruit to cut new clovers from.

Once you have made your four leaf clover garnishes, remove the rind and seeds from the remaining honeydew, chop it into 2 inch chunks and blend in the blender until it’s smooth.

Add 30 mint leaves, or more or less to taste.

Taste your green smoothie. If you like it, you are done. If you want it to be sweeter, add some pineapple juice to taste. This will depend a lot on the sweetness of your honeydew melon. Add more mint if desired.

Pour the drink into glasses. One large honeydew will serve about 4 people. Have more honeydew on hand in case you need to make more.

Put the straws through your 4 leaf clover garnishes, add a sprig of mint to your garnish if you like. Place the decorated straws into the glasses and serve. MMM mmm.

For frosty, slushy smoothie, freeze some fresh honeydew in advance of making your green smoothie. If you don’t have frozen honeydew, you can add ice but it will dilute the flavors in the green smoothie as the ice melts.

Add vodka if you like.

I hope you enjoy this green smoothie as much as my husband and I do.

Have fun making your green smoothie St. Patrick’s Day drink.

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/green-smoothie-st-patricks-day/feed/12Christmas Candy Plattershttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/christmas-candy-platters/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/christmas-candy-platters/#commentsSat, 22 Dec 2012 21:50:20 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=6972I’m going to show you how you can easily create festive Christmas candy platters from hard mint candies. These platters are perfect for serving sweet treats or for giving with cookies as a gift. You can watch the video or read the print in this article, whichever you prefer. You will see far more photos […]

]]>I’m going to show you how you can easily create festive Christmas candy platters from hard mint candies. These platters are perfect for serving sweet treats or for giving with cookies as a gift. You can watch the video or read the print in this article, whichever you prefer. You will see far more photos in the video.

Making Christmas candy platters and bowls from peppermint candy is so simple.

I’ll show you how to create lovely serving items like these as opposed to having lousy results as I did while I was experimenting. I’ll also show you how to make my favorite design. And at the end, I’ll show you a valuable tip for using these serving pieces and for giving them as gifts.

How to Make Christmas Candy Platters and More

Click the Play Arrow below to watch the video.

The first time I attempted making a mint platter, we had family and friends over. After we Oooed and aaahed over the first completed platter, lots of ideas came up.

I created a spiral pattern for the next platter. When I took it out of the oven, my son suggested that I try making it into a bowl. The result was a peppermint bowl.

Next, I tried making a Christmas candy platter that looked like a snowflake. That did not turn out so well.

Making peppermint Christmas candy platters is an easy Christmas activity for small children. My 5 year old granddaughter joined in on the fun. She chose to make a heart shape. Then she wanted to add a bow. The heart looked great but the bow spread a bit too much. However, she loved it. Her circular platter turned out great and she was happy to bring both home with her.

The next day, I went to the store, bought more candy and did some experimenting. In the process, I learned some stuff. Now, I’ll show you how you can make candy serving items like these. I’ll also show you a few tricks to getting great results. And I’ll show you some of my failed experiments so that you will save time by avoiding those same mistakes.

Start with these wrapped peppermints. I found the Starlite brand to be better because the red color is more red than the Brach’s candy mints which looked more pink when melted. Unwrap your mints and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Then position your mints in the design that you want. Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool. That is the basics.

To make a bowl, wait maybe 30 seconds to a minute or so after the melted candy comes out of the oven. Rest the paper with the melted candy in a shallow bowl. The paper will buckle making a curly ruffled edge. When cool, lift it out and remove the paper. Another way to make a bowl is to wait till the candy has hardened a little but is still quite pliable. This can happen rather quickly, within a minute or two.

To form a Christmas candy bowl, you can rest the parchment paper with the melted candy in a shallow bowl while the mints are still melted and pliable.

Have the the bowl that you want to use ready. Oil the bottom and place the bowl upside down on the counter. Place the warm pliable candy on the bottom of the bowl and gently press to create a ruffled bowl. If the candy is too cool and hard, it will crack. If the candy is too cool, and won’t bend, you can put it back in the oven for 30 seconds or a minute until it softens. Watch it carefully so that you don’t end up with a puddle of candy.

You can also use the back of a bowl to form your candy bowl.

In my experimenting, I discovered one way to NOT make a candy bowl. I tried placing candy around the edges of a small oven safe bowl. I oiled the bowl to make it easy to remove the candy. Well, the candy melted into one big flat topped puddle. After I took it out of the oven I tried pressing the candy up the sides of the bowl. After it hardened, I could not get it out of the bowl. So I put it back into the oven to make it soft enough to pry from the edges. I ended up with this gloppy mess. Don’t bother trying to make your mint bowl that way.

Next, I tried making a platter using candy canes. I had found 3 kinds on candy canes. One was the traditional red and white candy cane, another had green and red stripes, and one type were these fat short peppermint sticks. I couldn’t decide so I bought all three types.

When I began to unwrap the green and red candy canes, I noticed that the ends of the candy canes with the green and red stripes looked brown. I wondered if the brown would show when it melted so I tried melting a single candy cane. In 8 minutes, it looked like a gloppy mess with plenty of unattractive brown color. I baked it too long. I tried again and got the brown leaking out the top and bottom. I decided against using these. I didn’t want the brown color in my finished platter. If you intend to use red and green candy canes, this is something to look out for.

I laid out a pattern using the red candy canes. The candy canes were thinner than the peppermint candies and therefore would probably melt faster. And, because I had already noticed in my previous experiments that the mints around the edges melt faster than those in the middle, I knew that I had to add some of the round mints around the edge of the pattern to keep the ends of the candy canes from melting into a thin puddle. I also made sure that the mints around the edges were placed close together.

Then I added some clear red and green candies. I thought they would look good in the crook of each candy cane. This also served a practical purpose. I didn’t know how quickly these candies would melt. If they melted too fast, they would be contained by the surrounding candies.

Then I put them in the oven. I set the timer for 6 minutes. At 6 minutes they weren’t done, so I took a look every 20 seconds or so for the next few minutes. It’s important to watch them carefully while they are melting. They can go from not quite melted to a bubbly thin mess very quickly. I removed the platter from the oven when the candies were melted enough to be fused together. The candy in the center was the last to melt. Ideally, you want to take the sheet out of the oven as soon as the candy is melted, but not bubbly or is spread too thin on the cookie sheet.

Because my cookie sheets are a little warped and not completely flat, about 30 seconds after taking out of the oven, I slid the parchment paper with the melted candy right onto my granite counter top to let it cool. This will work fine on any counter top that is not sensitive to heat.

I turned out beautiful.

Here are a few quick variations of peppermint Christmas Candy platters.

This peppermint stick Christmas candy platter could be used as a divided plate. Turned over, it can be used as a flat footed plate.

I tried making a platter with these short thicker peppermint sticks. These did not melt the way the other candies had. This plate could be used as a divided plate or it could be turned over. The flat part could serve as the plate and the raised peppermint sticks could act as “feet” on the platter.

Because these peppermint sticks did not melt, I thought they could be used as raised edges on a platter. So I experimented with using them on the edges of a rectangular serving plate. Here is how it turned out. The clear candies look pretty like stained glass when the light shines through them.

I wondered if this would work with other hard candies, so I tried it and successfully made a transparent golden platter with butterscotch candies. This would make a beautiful gift with butterscotch cookies, wrapped in cellophane and finished with a gold ribbon.

Platter made from butterscotch candies with butterscotch cookies

Wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon, there Christmas Candy Platters make lovely gifts.

If you want to get these specific peppermint sticks, they are called Bob’s Sweet Stripes Soft Mint Candy. I got these at my local CVS Pharmacy.

I could go on and on with more ideas. But here is the essential recipe for making your successful mint candy platters for Christmas.

Use the flattest cookie sheet you have and cover with parchment paper.

Lay out your design keeping the peppermints on the edges of your pattern very close together. They will spread so make sure you don’t place them too close to the edge of your parchment paper or cookie sheet.

Place in the center of your oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For a small platter, start watching at 5 minutes. For a larger platter start watching at 7 minutes.

Remove from oven as soon as candy is melted enough to be fused together at the center. Try to take it out before the outside edges get bubbly and too thin. A few bubbles will most likely happen and that’s OK.

Let the melted candy platter cool before you try to handle it. Unless you are making a bowl.

Store wrapped in parchment paper in a sealed plastic bag. The platters will get a bit sticky. Especially if kept out in a humid environment. There is a reason that these mints are individually wrapped. So when not in use, wrap your platters and bowls in parchment paper then seal in a plastic bag. If your piece is too large for a plastic bag, just keep it wrapped in parchment paper in a dry place. After a few days, my platters and bowls did dry to have a nice shiny smooth surface.

Add your cookies, wrap in cellophane and add a pretty ribbon just before you plan to deliver your gift.

When it comes to using your candy platters, choose cookies that have flavors that will go well with your candy platter. Mint candy platters would be great with chocolate goodies, sugar cookies, mint treats or brownies. These will still taste good if they pick up the mint flavor from the platter. Butterscotch, shortbread, oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies would taste good on golden butterscotch platters.

Here is the last tip that you will find useful. Put a bit of parchment paper on the bottom of your serving piece. This keeps it from sticking to your table or table cloth when you use it. When you wrap these for a gift, it keeps the plate from sticking to the cellophane.

You pretty Christmas candy platters will make gifts that are sure to delight and please during the holidays. Have fun creating your own candy platters and bowls. Your friends and family will love them.

Candy Plates and Platters for Hanukkah.

For Hanukkah, you can use blue and white or blue and clear hard candies. Here are a few examples.

Simply do a Google search for blue hard candies or clear hard candies to see where you can get them. One source is CandyWarehouse.com. Another is Walmart.com. The Matlow’s Crystal mints are available from GroovyCandies.com. You may have to experiment with melting times for these mints. I’d love to see some photos of blue and white plates and bowls.

Students come up with their own variations on this idea

To see how some students of this lesson made platters and bowls with their own original twists, click here to see pedestal plates and doll house sized tables, and click here to see plates and bowls made with various colored and clear candies.

More Great Food Decorating Ideas

For more great food decoration ideas, feel free to browse through my blog. You can get free lessons and ideas showing how to make vegetable and fruit centerpieces and garnishes that will WOW your guests.

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/christmas-candy-platters/feed/49National Toasted Marshmallow Dayhttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/national-toasted-marshmallow-day/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/national-toasted-marshmallow-day/#respondThu, 30 Aug 2012 07:55:22 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=6358August 30th is National Toasted Marshmallow Day. That’s right, now there’s a day where you don’t have to feel guilty about indulging in this yummy, sweet treat. Sticky, gooey and oh-so-good – almost nothing beats a toasted marshmallow at a backyard bonfire. This soft, pillowy confectionery is so well loved that it gets its own […]

August 30th is National Toasted Marshmallow Day. That’s right, now there’s a day where you don’t have to feel guilty about indulging in this yummy, sweet treat. Sticky, gooey and oh-so-good – almost nothing beats a toasted marshmallow at a backyard bonfire. This soft, pillowy confectionery is so well loved that it gets its own national holiday! August seems to be a good time to celebrate food because August 3rd was National Watermelon Day, and August 15th is a day of food and wine celebrations in America for legendary TV chef Julia Child’s 100th Birthday, if she were alive today.

The origin and creator of Toasted Marshmallow Day is unknown, although I’ve read that it has been celebrated for many years. Some sources suggest that this food holiday was created on August 30th as a way for families and friends to enjoy the last day of summer holidays before the kids go back to school. After all, toasting marshmallows has become somewhat of a tradition in the summer, especially during camping trips and backyard bonfires.

Did you know that the history of marshmallows dates all the way back to ancient Egypt?

Marshmallow plant (Althaea officinalis)

Pharaohs used to eat the sweet extract from the mallow plant. Sometimes this extract or sap would be mixed with nuts and honey. Later in the 19th century, bakers in France discovered that they could whip the sap from the mallow plant and sweeten it to make something similar to the marshmallow we know today.

It was actually an American named Alex Doumak who invented a way to make marshmallows in an automated way using tubes, giving it the cylindrical shape we’re familiar with today. I’m not sure who created the idea of a toasting marshmallows, but it was pure genius! So on August 30th, gather some friends around a bonfire, grab some sticks, a bag of marshamallow and satisfy your sweet tooth on Toasted Marshmallow Day!

The Best Toasted Marshmallow S’mores

A couple of weeks ago I attended the annual beach barbeque that one of my friends throws every year. She makes the most delicious toasted marshmallow s’mores. She takes one of those racks with a long handle that is meant for grilling and turning burgers or fish over a BBQ grill. She fills the rack with graham crackers placing a square of chocolate on each graham cracker square. She then heats them over the fire so that the crackers are warm and toasted and the chocolate is soft and melted. In the meantime, the guests roasted their own marshmallows to their own liking. I like mine melty on the inside and just a little burnt on the outside. When I added my toasted marshmallow to the cracker with the already melted chocolate it was one of the best s’mores I’ve ever had. Delicious.

1. Preheat the broiler. On a foil-lined baking sheet, place half of the marshmallows in a single layer; broil until charred, 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Place the remaining marshmallows on the sheet and roast until just toasted, 2 minutes; let cool.

2. In a blender, mix the milk, ice cream, sour cream and charred marshmallows. Serve topped with the toasted marshmallows.”

This recipe makes four servings. Doesn’t it sound yummy?

Toasted Marshmallow Cupcakes

Add toasted marshmallows to your cupcakes in the last minute of baking for instant frosting

All you have to do for this recipe is make your favorite cupcake, then in the last few minutes of baking, throw one large or a few small toasted marshmallows on top and continue baking. Voila – you have instant marshmallow icing for your cupcake!

Nutella S’mores Panini

When I was on the San Diego Living Show, I met Kathy Strahs who writes a blog called PaniniHappy.com. She has a great recipe for Nutella S’mores. After she was on her segment of the show, the host Marc Bailey was raving off camera about how good her s’mores panini was. He said he that before tasting this panini, didn’t think that s’mores could be improved on but apparently, they can.

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the panini maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, graham crackers and sugar until they’re well combined.

For each sandwich: Spread a thin layer of graham cracker butter on top of two slices of bread. Flip over both slices of bread. Spread a few tablespoons of Nutella on one slice and a few tablespoons of marshmallow cream on the other. Close the sandwich, butter side up.

Grill the panini, two at a time, until the crust is crisped and golden and the marshmallow cream has melted, 3 to 4 minutes.

Alternatively, if you don’t have a panini maker, you can always grill these sandwiches in a regular skillet for a few minutes on each side.

Toasted Marshmallow PB ‘n J Sandwiches

Dress up regular peanut butter sandwiches with toasted marshmallows

Another option – you can put some toasted marshmallows in the middle of a peanut butter and jam sandwich. It’s a good thing this food holiday is only one day out of the year!

Toasted Marshmallow Day | Clever Ways to Use Marshmallows

Sure, marshmallows are known as a sweet treat, but there some functional ways to use it that you may not have thought of before.

Here’s a video from the Rookie Cook, sharing some clever ways to use marshmallows:

I recently learned about two more unusual ways to use marshmallows:

1. Lozenge for sore throats – the gelatin that binds the marshmallow is actually helpful in soothing irritation in your throat. Make sure to chew the marshmallow instead of sucking on it whole. What a delicious remedy, don’t you think? In fact, I read some sources suggesting the marshmallow was first used as a medicine in Egypt before it was eaten.

2. Home remedy for boils and abscesses – the high sugar content of marshmallows helps to draw out pus and dead matter that make up abcsesses on your skin and gums. This should be done when the boil has reached its head. Remember that this is just a home remedy and should not be used as a substitute for medical care of more serious conditions.

I don’t know how well these remedies actually work. If you try these out, let me know.

If you like learning about unusual ways to use food, you might enjoy my post about Wild and Wacky Watermelon Ideas, where you can watch a video of people watermelon skiing!

I hope you’re been enjoying your summer. It’s not too late to join some friends and family for good old fashion bonfire fun with toasted marshmallow s’mores today.

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/national-toasted-marshmallow-day/feed/0Summer Picnic Ideashttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/summer-picnic-ideas/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/summer-picnic-ideas/#respondFri, 24 Aug 2012 11:11:15 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=6293August is National Picnic Month, so today I wanted to share some creative picnic ideas with you. Having an outdoor picnic with fresh food and fun games is a classic summer activity and can bring out the kid in anyone! Even the simplest foods taste wonderful when packed in a picnic basket and eaten outside in […]

August is National Picnic Month, so today I wanted to share some creative picnic ideas with you.

Having an outdoor picnic with fresh food and fun games is a classic summer activity and can bring out the kid in anyone! Even the simplest foods taste wonderful when packed in a picnic basket and eaten outside in the sun. It gives everyone a chance to relax and get a little silly with fun family games before the kids go back to school. So I invite you to pack a basket and enjoy some sun and fresh air with these creative picnic ideas.

Fun and Creative Picnic Ideas

One of the easiest picnic ideas is to pack sandwiches, some fruit, drinks and a salad. You can keep your sandwiches as simple as you like or you can get a little more gourmet by adding fresh herbs like basil and cilantro, soft cheeses such as brie or gorgonzola and special spreads such as roasted red pepper hummus. Yum!

Here are a few more creative picnic ideas that you might like to try!

Tortillas

Try making wraps or tortillas instead of the traditional sandwich for your picnic

Instead of the classic sandwich, put your favorite fillings inside a tortilla. You can either make them ahead of time or bring ingredients separately and have everyone make their own tortilla. They’re fun to roll so the kids can get involved as well. Some of my favorite fillings include turkey breast, cucumber, tomato, avocado, sprouts and hummus. Pick your favorites and get as creative as you like!

Gazpacho Soup

Gazpacho soup makes a cool and refreshing picnic lunch

Gazpacho is a cold soup originating from Spain. Gazpacho is usually made with vegetables including tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, onion, herbs such as cilatro and parsley, olive oil, red wine viegar and salt and pepper to taste. Last week, I shared an idea for watermelon gazpacho on my blog. Since it was National Watermelon Day in early August, you can include this delicious fruit in your picnic by trying out some of the Tasty Watermelon RecipesI posted last week.

Fruit Skewers

Another great picnic idea: fruit kabobs with dip

One of my favorite picnic ideas involves making fruit kabobs or skewers with yogurt dip. It’s a healthy dessert that’s perfect for hot summer days. Fruit skewers are so simple to make – simple cut your favorite fruits into cubes and arrange them on wooden skewers. You can include cubed cheese to the skewers for some added protein. These are always a big hit with the kids!

Cold Pizza

Cold pizza is an easy, no-fuss picnic idea

Instead of cold sandwiches for your picnic, try cold pizza! Pizza still tastes great the next day when it’s cold so why not give it a try at your next picnic? You can always make your own pizzas the night before and keep them in the fridge until they are ready to go into your picnic basket. This may end of up getting the kids’ vote for top picnic ideas!

Vietnamese Salad Rolls

Pack along homemade salad rolls for a cool and light picnic meal

Out of all the picnic ideas listed here, this one requires a little more preparation but it’s worth it! Vietnamese salad rolls are light, fresh and burst with flavour in every bite.

Prepare the salad on the day of the picnic. Cook vermicelli noodles according to package directions and drain. Julienne the vegetables and chop the herbs. Heat water in a wide pot/pan until warm. Dip the rice paper wraps in the warm water until softened and place onto a plate. In the center of the wrap, put vegetables and noodles, meat and herbs. Roll up by folding top corner (closest to you) down over the filling, fold the two sides in toward the center and then continue rolling to the bottom of the rice paper roll. Cover with plastic wrap and pack it in your basket along with the bottled sweet chili sauce for dipping. Give it a try – it may end up being one of your favorite picnic ideas!

Get Active With These Fun Picnic Ideas

Get the family moving with fun picnic games

There are many fun picnic ideas to get the family up and moving. It’s always good to get the kids to burn off some energy before school starts in September!

Some active picnic ideas you might like to include in your outing are frisbee, tug of war, water balloon fights or even a simple game of tag. Some other interesting things you can do include hula hooping or bringing a pinata along! The list is endless so if you have some favorite picnic ideas that get your whole family moving, I’d love to hear them!

I hope you’ve had a great summer so far. I encourage you to take advantage of the sunshine and head outdoors to enjoy a few of these picnic ideas!

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/summer-picnic-ideas/feed/0National Watermelon Dayhttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/national-watermelon-day-2/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/national-watermelon-day-2/#respondFri, 03 Aug 2012 04:06:04 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=6189Did you know that that August 3rd is National Watermelon Day here in the United States? This delicious fruit is so well loved that it has been given its own national day! Watermelon is the perfect thirst quencher on hot summer days and although it is usually thought of as a sweet snack, watermelon can […]

Did you know that that August 3rd is National Watermelon Day here in the United States? This delicious fruit is so well loved that it has been given its own national day! Watermelon is the perfect thirst quencher on hot summer days and although it is usually thought of as a sweet snack, watermelon can be used in savory recipes as well. Of course, if you are a fruit carver, you’ll know that watermelon is a popular fruit to work with because of its soft texture and beautiful contrasting colors.

My blog is full of watermelon carving ideas. But, given all the great qualities of watermelon, it seems fitting to mention National Watermelon Day on today’s post and share with you some fun and delicious ways to enjoy this versatile fruit!

Fun Fruit Carvings for National Watermelon Day

Throughout my blog, I feature many beautiful watermelon carving ideas. The red, white and green colors of the watermelon are perfect for making flowers and leaves. You can take a look at some of these carvings here.

Today, I want to show you some watermelon carvings that I came across that are more cute and whimsical…and super simple. I liked these carvings for National Watermelon Day because they are super easy for anyone to make and they are carved so that you can eat the fruit right away. If you are celebrating National Watermelon Day, these carvings make great centerpieces for outdoor meals and would appeal to kids as well. Take a look at these ideas by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

Fish

Nascar

Purse

Submarine

Tea pot

Turtle

Aren’t those watermelon baskets creative and cute? They would really liven up a table and get people talking! Thanks again to the National Watermelon Promotion board for the fun and simple ideas.

A Toast to National Watermelon Day – My Favorite Watermelon Cocktails

Watermelon cocktails can be quite delicious and refreshing.

At my recent 4th of July party I had a lot of pieces of watermelon left over after cutting watermelon balls for the fruit salad. On impulse and threw them in the blender and pureed the watermelon into juice. I figured I could chill it and offer it as a refreshing drink, with or without alcohol added. It turned out to be a big hit and several more pitchers full were made during the party. Some people preferred their watermelon juice straight up and some added vodka. If you use plain vodka and add just a bit of juice, you get a melon flavored martini. Or you can have the proportion be more juice than vodka. The most popular way to drink the watermelon at my party turned out to be 6 ounces of juice with one shot of vanilla vodka or whipped cream vodka. The whipped cream vodka was the ultimate favorite.

One thing that would make it even better, garnish with some fresh sprigs of mint.

Celebrate National Watermelon Day with Unusual Watermelon Recipes

National Watermelon Day is the perfect time to try out some unusual watermelon recipes. We usually think of watermelon as being a sweet snack and something to be served for desert. However, watermelon tastes great in savory dishes as well. Some ideas include:

Using watermelon in salad with gorgonzola cheese, fresh mint and cucumbers with balsamic vinegar

Replacing the tomato in a sandwich with watermelon

Marinating and grilling watermelon on skewers with chicken and vegetables

Here’s an easy recipe for a savory watermelon salsa recipe that you can try for National Watermelon Day or for any summer BBQ:

Check Out This Video of How To Make A Flower Centerpiece for National Watermelon Day

I often show watermelons carved with flowers. Here’s something a little different. It’s a video showing you how to make an elegant floral centerpiece with real flowers using watermelon for a base. It doesn’t require a great deal of carving and looks beautiful. This display would be fairly quick to arrange and would really brighten up a room. Check it out!

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/national-watermelon-day-2/feed/0Tasty Watermelon Recipeshttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/tasty-watermelon-recipes/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/tasty-watermelon-recipes/#commentsWed, 01 Aug 2012 21:03:24 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=6206Since August 3rd is National Watermelon Day in the United States, I wanted to share some fresh and fun watermelon recipes with you. Even if you don’t live in the United States, you really don’t a special day to celebrate this delicious and versatile fruit. Watermelon is enjoyed and loved any day of the year, but […]

Since August 3rd is National Watermelon Day in the United States, I wanted to share some fresh and fun watermelon recipes with you. Even if you don’t live in the United States, you really don’t a special day to celebrate this delicious and versatile fruit. Watermelon is enjoyed and loved any day of the year, but nothing beats it on hot summer days!

Watermelon is delicious on its own, but there are many different and interesting ways to use it as well. So here are a few watermelon recipes to get your creative culinary juices flowing. Oh and keep reading to find out about my free watermelon carving lessons!

Watermelon Recipes

Watermelon makes a great dessert on a hot summer day. But have you ever tried it in a savory recipe, such as pairing it with meat or cheese? Well, give these watermelon recipe ideas a try. These watermelon recipes are fun to make for friends at a summer potluck and are healthy too! Thanks to Prevention Magazine for these photos and ideas.

Watermelon, ham and basil skewer

Try skewering watermelon chunks with ham and basil – the saltiness of the ham and sweetness of the watermelon compliment each other nicely. You can try adding cheese to the skewers as well, or brushing a bit of olive oil on the skewer and lightly grilling it for a few seconds.

Watermelon gazpacho

One of the watermelon recipies I’ve come across often is watermelon gazpacho, which a simply a cold soup originating from Spain. During hot days, the last thing you might want to do is have hot soup so why not try savory cold gazpacho! Try chopping up some fresh watermelon with cucumber, bell peppers, shallots, fresh basil and parsley and jalapenos (if you like it spicy). Drizzle olive oil, red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt to taste. Puree the mixture to your desired consistency and adjust spices to your liking.

Watermelon, feta and basil salad

This dish is one that I love to make for summertime barbeques. It involves using watermelon in a savory salad. One of the easiest recipes to try is simply cubing the watermelon, adding cubed feta cheese, fresh basil, drizzling some olive oil and a squeeze of lime to the dish and tossing. This is a fresh and simple salad that goes great with barbequed chicken, steak or burgers!

Watermelon, fresh mint and gorgonzola cheese is another tasty combo of sweet, bright and salty/pungent. Yum.

Just last night, my husband made a salad will all kinds of leftovers we had in the refrigerator. The salad ended up containing lettuce, watermelon, fresh mint, gorgonzola cheese, diced cucumbers, plum tomatoes, and a few red seedless grapes. We dressed it with a little balsamic vinegar. If turned out to be surprisingly delicious.

Frozen watermelon granita

Here are some watermelon recipes that are kid-friendly. You can make an easy granita by pureeing fresh watermelon with lime juice, honey and a bit of water to thin out the mixture. Cover tightly with plastic wrap to freeze. Give the granita a quick scrape to loosen the ice chunks before serving.

Another fun and kid-friendly recipe to make is watermelon ice pops. Blend fresh watermelon with a bit of lime or lemon juice and honey to taste. Pour the liquid into 5 fluid ounce paper cups, leaving space at the top so they don’t overflow. Stick a wooden popsicle stick into each cup. Freeze for several hours. To eat, just peel off paper cup. You can “trick” your kids or grandkids into eating healthy with these watermelon recipes!

I hope you give these watermelon recipes a try. Your family and friends will definitely be impressed with your culinary skills!

Watermelon Recipes | Nita’s Free Watermelon Carving Lessons

Here are some watermelon recipes that will make a great centerpiece at any dinner party and get “ooohs” and “ahhhs” from your guests. These ideas involve a bit of carving, but don’t worry if you’ve never tried fruit carving before. My video lessons will give you step by step instructions to help you out.

Watermelon cake taught in Nita’s free video lesson

If you haven’t already, check out my free lesson on how to make an easy watermelon cake. My free lesson will give you the basic steps which you can adapt any way you like. Many of my students and customers, after learning how to make my easy watermelon cake, came up with great ideas of their own. Some of their watermelon ideas included making two and three tiered layer watermelon cakes and even putting whipped cream in between the layers!

]]>https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/tasty-watermelon-recipes/feed/1Chocolate Covered Strawberries in Arrangementshttps://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/chocolate-covered-strawberries-arrangements/
https://www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/chocolate-covered-strawberries-arrangements/#commentsSun, 12 Feb 2012 19:51:03 +0000//www.vegetablefruitcarving.com/blog/?p=3837Do you love Chocolate Covered Strawberries? They are super easy to make. Here are several short videos in this article that will show you exactly how to make chocolate covered strawberries. You’ll also see how you can easily decorate them and how you can use them in pretty and delicious chocolate covered strawberry fruit arrangements. […]

]]>Do you love Chocolate Covered Strawberries? They are super easy to make.

Decorated Chocolate Covered Strawberries in Floral Arrangement

Here are several short videos in this article that will show you exactly how to make chocolate covered strawberries. You’ll also see how you can easily decorate them and how you can use them in pretty and delicious chocolate covered strawberry fruit arrangements. And if you have leftover chocolate, you can easily and quickly make some chocolate bark candy and other chocolate covered goodies, too.

You may find these yummy fruit arrangements ideas useful for any upcoming potluck, or party. Chocolate Covered Strawberries arranged into bouquets make welcome hostess gifts, too. For an anniversary or birthday, you could make one strawberry for each year. The three brief videos in this article will show exactly how to make these lovely and delicious sweet treats.

If you like the idea of adding chocolate covered strawberries to edible bouquets containing of a variety of fruits, you might like my Bouquets and Butterflies video lessons that show how to make bouquets fruit flowers and butterflies. It’s available in myShop as an individual lesson and as lesson #2 in my Vegetable and Fruit Carving 101 – Video Course for Beginners.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries in a Bouquet

In the video below, you will learn an fast and easy way to decorate your white or chocolate covered strawberries without needing any special equipment. Whether you use plan to put your strawberries in a bouquet or serve on a platter, this simple decorating technique will dress up your chocolate covered strawberries.

Decorate Your Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Making White Chocolate Bark

When I have leftover white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate after making a chocolate covered strawberries as shown in my two video mini-lessons above, I like to make other chocolate goodies.

Just add your favorite nuts and/or dried fruit to the melted white chocolate and drop onto parchment paper or waxed paper and let cool. Or make the chocolate bark that I demonstrate in this 2 minute video below.

If you like, you can decorate your white chocolate candies with the semi-sweet chocolate just as we did in the video showing how to decorate your white chocolate covered strawberries.

Once your white chocolate bark candies are cooled and firm, remove them from the parchment or waxed paper and serve (or eat ;~). Add them to a pretty candy dish and they can even make a nice gift.

I love the tart sweet flavor of dried cherries along with crunchy toasted almond slivers added to semi-sweet or white chocolate. Yummmeee. But you can add any combination that you like. Dried cranberries also add a nice tart contrast to the sweet white chocolate. Raisins and peanuts are another combination that I especially like with semi-sweet chocolate.

To use up your remaining melted chocolate, you can explore your pantry for other goodies that you can dip or chocolate coat. Here are a few possibilities.

Dried Turkish apricots

Chopped up marshmallows and walnuts to make rocky road

Oreo cookies, peanut butter cookies or other sandwich cookies.

Biscotti

Pretzels

Cereal like Chex, cornflakes, shredded wheat or granola

Cashews

Any combination of nuts and/or dried fruit

Ritz crackers

Crushed peppermint candy

Drizzle over the top of muffins

Dip the tops of cupcakes

Drizzle on shortbread cookies

The possibilities are endless.

If you are saving your chocolate covered strawberries for a special event later, you can still eat your goodies made with the leftovers right away. MMmm.

Go ahead and make your own chocolate covered strawberries.

I hope that you have some creative fun and enjoy making and eating your lovely chocolate covered strawberries.